USA > Missouri > Linn County > Compendium of history and biography of Linn County, Missouri > Part 22
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Among these great enterprises was the Atchison, Topeka & Santa
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Fe Railway, operating exclusively west of the Missouri river, until the late 80's, and practically the only competitor in the rapidly developing western country of the Union Pacific, the pioneer of the great plains roads. The Santa Fe, with 2,510 miles of rails in 1883, increased its mileage in the eleven years following until it was operat- ing, in 1904, 9,345 miles ; and the more important and by far the most expensive part of this increased mileage was what is known as the "Chicago Extension," running almost directly as the crow flies in a northeasterly direction from Kansas City to Chicago, connecting the Great Lakes region with the Land of Sunshine beyond the snowy peaks of the Rocky mountain ranges. Experience in railway operation had developed the fact that the welfare and comfort of employes, and the care and preservation of the vast machinery of the industry, demanded division or terminal points along the lines at a distance of one hundred miles, one from the other; and on the line of the Santa Fe's proposed extension, one hundred miles northeast from Kansas City, was an open, upland prairie, stretching away to Yellow creek on the west and the Chariton river on the east, dotted here and there with the homes of the farmers, carpeted with bluegrass, ornamented with the white blossoms and the bright red fruit of the wild strawberry and the blue-bell of the fleur-de-lis. Over this beautiful prairie the cattle roamed unmolested and the land produced luxuriously almost without effort. Scattering cottonwood and locust trees cast their shade here and there, principally around the spots where the farmers had located their dwellings, and it is a tradition among the farmers that this high and sightly prairie ridge has been for years, and still is, the playground of the lightning, for scarcely a tree stood on the site of Marceline but showed the marks of the thunderbolts. As if to verify the tradition, discussed around the hearthstones of the early settlers, that some peculiar attraction at the spot where Marceline stands invites the fatal lightning stroke, many damaging conflagrations have resulted in the town from that cause and some loss of life from the deadly bolts has been noted in and near the town. But if the high location of the city invites the destructive force of the elements, nature seems to have made compensation in the healthfulness which the site, with its natural drainage to the streams east and west, provides.
One day, in 1886, the farmers awoke to meet the faces of strange men, men who talked business incessantly and who wanted to buy options on their land. They offered good prices, put up forfeits, got signed contracts and before the end of the year the civil engineer with his force of rodmen, chain-bearers and transitmen was on the ground
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running the preliminary surveys for the Chicago, Santa Fe & Cal- ifornia Railway, which, when completed, was to become a part of the great "Santa Fe System." Events developed with kaleidoscopic rap- idity in the new enterprise. Construction work began at both ends of the new line, and in 1887 the Missouri division point was platted and on the 28th day of January, 1888, the first town lot was sold in the new town of Marceline. On the 6th day of March following the town was incorporated. The county court of Linn county, after making the order of incorporation, appointed A. D. Reynolds, mayor; J. H. Perrin, W. S. Thomas, George Levan and J. E. Dorsey, aldermen; Joseph Turner, marshal, all to serve until the regular election of officers. The mayor appointed seems not to have met the approval of his con- stituents, and so an early election was provided for by an ordi- nance, and at that election J. W. McFall, one of the earliest and best known lawyers of Marceline, was elected mayor; J. A. Runyon, mar- shal; Jeff Hurt, police judge; C. D. Watkins, city attorney; Joseph Hemmings, clerk. The city being divided into two wards, Dr. Garner Ladow, W. S. Thomas, Dr. J. H. Perrin and J. E. Waller were elected to represent these wards. Within six months from the date on which the first lot was sold the new city had a population of 2,500 people. The lands of the town site were owned and sold by an auxiliary corporation known as the "Santa Fe Town and Land Company," and to its local offices in Marceline came an ex-lieutenant governor of Kansas, D. W. Finney, as sales-agent, and with him came Joseph Hemmings, still a resident of Marceline and at the date of the writing of this chapter superintendent of the mines of the Marceline Coal & Mining Company. The incorporation of the town, however, was not the only event of in- terest which came with the date March 6, 1888, for on that day the first child was born in the new town; and that child, Claud C. Dail, the second son of Mr. and Mrs. R. J. Dail, is yet faithful to the place of his birth; and having led to the hymeneal altar Miss Vina McDonald, yet lives in the city with his young wife, a popular and prosperous young business man. With the opening of spring in 1888 came re- markable activity in Marceline. It had gotten its name, of Spanish origin, through the request of one of the directors of the new road. The Christian name of the wife of this official was Marcelina, and as a courtesy to her the new town was called "Marceline." True to its western name, the town took on all the appearances of the cities of the West. Following the construction gangs who were building the rail- road line came the usual boomers and the atmosphere was surcharged with energy and hustle. Business houses and residences arose like
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magic on the corn and wheat stubble of the year before. Vigorous young business men, merchants, professional men, promoters, coal prospectors, gamblers, and all the heterogenous mixture of people who make up the earliest population of new towns were here. The man from the West, with white sombrero ornamented with leather band, touched elbow with the Missouri farmer. The eastern college man, with his derby hat and coat of latest cut, who had taken Horace Greeley's advise-"Go west and grow up with the country," forgot his college yell and exchanged his fraternity pin for a bone collar but- ton and all entered enthusiastically into the building of a new city.
The original plat of the city soon became too small for the am- bitious builders, and the Marceline Town & Land Company's addition was platted by E. M. Randolph, James E. Adamas, Gov. Finney and others. Taking a part in the platting of this addition as well as in the platting of the original town site was Judge C. G. Bigger, the veteran Linn county civil engineer, at the time of this writing city engineer, having in charge the paving of the streets of the city of Marceline, whose site he knew as an unbroken stretch of prairie grass less than a quarter of a century ago. By the end of the year 1888 the railroad company had its round house and tracks ready for use and operation, and early in 1889 began in a modest way the operation of trains. The trainmaster and the chief dispatcher with their forces were located at Marceline. The division superintendant, whose juris- diction then and for many years thereafter included the entire Chicago extension, was located at Ft. Madison, Iowa. The need of coal at con- venient locations along the new line became manifest and prospecting began at Marceline as well as at other points. Captain C. U. Wheelock, an experienced prospector, was employed to sink a shaft in search of coal and finally located a promising vein at what is now know as Mine No. 1 of the Marceline Coal & Mining Company's property. Local capital at once began to interest itself in the work and it was deter- mined to sink a shaft, and that shaft is still in use as the air shaft of Mine No. 1. The first spade of earth in starting was turned by Mrs. Lillian Green, wife of W. C. Green, one of the promoters, and the shaft was called Lillian Shaft No. 1, in her honor. A peculiar superstition prevailed among the miners at that time. They believed bad luck would follow the enterprise if the first shovel of dirt was not turned by the delicate hand of a lady and so, in deferrence to their wish and that belief, Mrs. Green turned the spade of earth over that virgin vein which since that day has yielded millions of tons of coal to the com- merce of the nation. As soon as the mine was in working condition, the
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Kansas & Texas Coal Company purchased the property from its local projectors and began preparations for extensive operation. This com- pany operated the mines until October, 1893, when it passed into the hands of the C. J. Devlin interests who operated it under the name of the Marceline Coal Company until the year 1907, when Mr. Devlin's property was swept away in a financial crash which carried with it many large banks and trust companies of the West, and the mines, Nos. 1 and 2, No. 2 having been opened at a later date, were closed out in a court of bankruptcy and passed into the hands of the Marceline Coal & Mining Company, which still operates them. During all the changes and vicissitudes of the properties Joseph Hemmings has been its superintendent, and under his masterful direction the properties are still yielding enormous quantities of fuel to drive the wheels of commerce. West of the City another coal mining venture was launched by J. L. Landreth, a West Virginian. His beginning, though humble, was nevertheless determined and as a result of his effort the third coal mine is in successful operation, making its sales almost exclusively to local consumers.
All lines of business were flourishing by midsummer of 1888 and as the people looked forward to prosperity and commercial progress they turned their attention to the building of substantial homes, churches and schools. During the first six months of the town's existence the two branches of the Methodist Church, the Church of the Disciples, the Baptists, the Catholics and the Cumberland Presbyterians had organ- ized congregations. All the protestant denomination met for worship in Crumley's hall, on Gracia avenue, and the Catholic congregation held their services in Senrick's Hall, on Lake street. J. W. W. Waugh was the first pastor of the Church of the Disciples, and while a minister by profession and eloquent in the pulpit, he seems not to have worked exclusively at his trade, but found time to build a reputation as a real estate dealer and, like David Harum's parson, was apt in swopping horses. W. Toole was the first pastor in charge of the Southern Metho- dist organization, while J. E. Rutledge directed the destiny of the earliest congregation of the First M. E. Church. These two branches of the Methodist faith maintained a separate existence in the town until the year 1908, when the two congregations were merged into one and the splendid, modern church edifice at the corner of Kansas and Santa Fe avenues, with its many enduring and ornamental features, is the result of that merger. An interesting coincidence of the first Methodist Episcopal Church congregation here is the fact that on October 8, 1888, its first church structure was dedicated and at that
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dedication Rev. J. D. Mendenhall preached a strong sermon, as we are advised by the local papers of that date. Twenty-four years there- after, on March 4, 1912, the same J. D. Mendenhall, older in years but still the progressive, enthusiastic man of affairs, stood in the new church building, as pastor of the congregation, and saw dedicated to the cause of Christianity, the modern house of worship just com- pleted, that handsome monument to his enterprise and that of his co- workers in erecting it.
St. Bonaventure's Church soon began actively to prepare for erecting their church home. Rev. Thomas J. Burke was the first pastor and presided over the parish until succeeded by Rev. P. J. Cullen. Re- lieved of his charge here, Father Burke went to Liberty, Missouri, where he died December 22, 1903, at the age of 42 years and was buried there. Later his remains were disinterred and removed to Mt. Killard cemetery, near Marceline, where a great shaft of solid con- crete marks the final resting place of that able man. St. Bonaventure's Church building was erected in the fall and winter of 1888 and 1889. Work was commenced on its foundation on September 10, 1888, and the cornerstone was laid by the Rt. Rev. J. J. Hogan, Bishop of the Diocese, on October 1, 1888. Rev. J. W. Martin came to organize the Baptist congregation and though long since gone from the field of his activity here, his work remains a tribute to the thoroughness of his effort and that congregation, in common with all the others enum- erated, is now worshiping in commodious and comfortable church edifices. True no great spires pierce the skies rising above piles of marble and polished granite, glittering in the sunlight, to proclaim to the world congregations of great wealth, yet in the hearts of the devout people who worship there these humble shrines become palaces of sincerity, and so we may believe them to appear to the All seeing eye of Him who has promised to note even the sparrow's fall. While law- lessness, violence and crime have at times invaded the community and stalked boldly through its streets and avenues, yet a strong and safe moral tone has always prevaded the social atmosphere, giving assur- ance of the triumph of good citizenship in the end.
It was the purpose of the Town Site Company that the principal business section of Marceline should be located on Santa Fe avenue and that avenue was made one-hundred feet wide for that reason, and here all the early business houses opened their doors. The Marceline Mirror and the Marceline Journal began business on this street, the first issue of the Journal being sometime in the month of June, 1888. Dr. J. A. Smith, now deceased, and J. W. Northcott, a real estate dealer
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of Kansas City, Missouri, were its first editors and publishers. All of the early files of this paper having been destroyed by fire, the exact date of its initial issue cannot now be fixed. It was launched as an ' organ of the Republican Party and has continued as such in its edi- torial policy down to the year 1912, and is now published by Alden Lyle. The first issue of the Mirror was given to the people on Thurs- day, August 9, 1888 by Ruede & Dodge. It started out prudently, mak- ing no promises except that it would print the news and support the policies of the Democratic party. Later Mr. Dodge sold his interest in the paper to Harry Brodrick, a newspaper man of Osborne, Kansas, and the paper continued under the direction of Mr. Ruede and Mr. Brodrick until 1894, when Walter Cash, of Macon, Missouri, purchased Mr. Ruede's interest and came with his family to Marceline. Mr. Cash, now living in St. Joseph, Missouri, was and is a minister of the Primitive Baptist faith, a businessman of splendid qualifications and a man of determination and enterprise. He brought with him to the Mirror office the "Messenger of Peace," a secular publication and it was issued from the office in Marceline and went to its subscribers in all parts of the world, being one of the few publications of its character published. Later Mr. Cash purchased the interest of Mr. Brodrick in the paper and in 1897 sold the business to E. J. Conger, one of the editors and proprietors of the Linneus Bulletin. Mr. Conger came to Marceline, took charge of the publication and has continued in the position ever since with the exception of a short interval when he was engaged in newspaper work elsewhere.
In November, 1888, the newspapers announced in large headlines that Marceline was soon to have an electric lighting plant, a telephone system, school buildings and street cars. The electric lights came in the following year and were the first in Linn county. The telephone system arrived in due time, true to the prediction; two large, double-story, eight-room school buildings arose on the prairie to serve the children of Marceline, but up to the good year of 1912 no street car has clanged its bell to disturb the peace of the ambitious city and the "syndicate of wealthy citizens of Scranton, Pa., who were anxious to build the line" probably found other investment for their surplus wealth and so passed the street car dream of early Marceline. The first term of school was for seven months during the fall and winter of 1888 and 1889; five teachers were employed to instruct the pupils of Marceline, shown by the first enumeration to number 306; in 1912 twenty instructors are employed for a nine months' term with an enumeration of 1,267.
In the winter of 1888 and 1889 a theater building of brick and of
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ornamental construction, was erected at the corner of Kansas and Santa Fe avenues, in the very heart of what was then thought to be the prom- inent business section, and at this time the city claimed a population of 3,300; but notwithstanding the fact that fifty mercantile establishments, seven hotels, two banks, five livery stables, the newspapers, drug stores and other commercial enterprises were located either on or contiguous to Santa Fe avenue, commercial interest began to center in a district farther south and soon business houses were erected on Lake street, five blocks south of Santa Fe and on the east side of the railroad tracks. At the time of Marceline's beginning, Linn county had adopted what is known as the Local Option law and no licensed saloons were in operation in the county. The Lake street business district was soon doing a thriving business with "speakeasys," as the places were known, where liquors were illegally and surreptitiously sold and along with them were the gambling dives and dance halls, all more or less open and operating in violation of law. Many prosecutions resulted, with but few convictions, and a condition of lawlessness prevailed. A number of murders resulted from drunken brawls, fights were frequent, and in 1891 the citizens of the county returned to the license system and saloons were opened in Marceline.
About this time the people were startled by reports that women, returning alone to their homes in the north part of town, after night- fall, were being frightened by the strange actions of some unknown miscreant. A number of women, passing along dark stretches of side- walk, had been horrified when a man stepped suddenly out of the darkness, threw his arms around them and escaped before his victims could sound an alarm. At first the matter was regarded as a hoax and Marceline's "Jack the Hugger" was the joke of the period, but soon the complaints came in from sources so authentic that the facts could no longer be kept under cover. It was whispered that the fiend was a negro, and the finger of suspicion pointed to one
an employe of W. A. Cannon, then a lumber merchant of Marceline, later a banker and drygoods merchant of Edina, Missouri, and now deceased. Because of the unpleasant notoriety many of these occur- rences never became public, but enough was known to thoroughly arouse public indignation. Armed men secretly patroled the district but without result. Finally, as a last resort, a brave young woman then teaching in the Marceline public schools volunteered to take the lonely stroll with the understanding that three men, one of whom was her brother, should see her start, keep within a safe distance of her and be ready to act if an occasion arose. All necessary precautions
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were taken to avoid the possibility of the trap being discovered and the brave young decoy was advised that at no time, from the moment of her starting to her return home, would she see her protectors, but she was assured that they would be constantly near her. She accepted the conditions and walked forth alone in the darkness night after night, and though she could neither see nor hear her guard, yet so great was her confidence and so firm her faith that she afterwards declared she felt not the slightest fear. But the cunning of the quarry was apparently equal to the shrewdness of the hunters, and the young woman strolled unmolested. The venture, however, was not without results for the occurrences ceased entirely after the unsuccessful effort to capture the vagabond. Whether or not the suspicions as to the identity of the fiend were well founded will probably never be known, but afterward paid the penalty of an assault on womanhood in Clark county, Missouri, and was hanged at Kahoka.
The town, starting with prosperous business, presented a splendid field for speculators, and real estate values continued at exorbitant figures until the year 1893, when the panic of that year swept over the country. Marceline had but little actual capital and from the year 1893 until 1896 city property continuously went down until it sold at from one-fourth to one-sixth of the prices which had prevailed in earlier days. During this period the building and loan associations of the country were doing their most active business and hundreds of houses had been built in Marceline with the money of these associa- tions. Thousands of dollars went out monthly and at the end of 1905 the loan companies were closing out the property by foreclosure sales. Lots which had sold readily at from $1,000 to $2,000 during the first year of the town's existence brought $200 and $300 in the period of the panic, and business was at a low ebb. In the meantime the business district had again changed and Kansas avenue from Ritchie street south to Gracia became, and has ever since remained, the commercial center of the town. On Kansas avenue, on either side of Howell street, within this new district, are now located the two banking insti- tutions of the city, the First National Bank of Marceline, with deposits of $325,000, and the Marceline State Bank, with deposits of $100,000. These banking houses are the outgrowth of the Bank of Marceline and the Santa Fe Exchange Bank, which, in 1896, showed combined deposits of $36,000.
With the passing of the panicky days of the 90's came renewed confidence, business was restored and real estate values advanced.
Following the administrations of Mayor McFall, Cater and Hel-
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wig, Austin N. Maupin, manager of the Marceline Mercantile Com- pany's establishment, was elected to the office. Mr. Maupin's admin- istration was marked by careful business methods, and during his term what is known as the "Fire Limits Ordinance" was passed. A non- resident property owner had prepared to remove a large, two-story frame dwelling house into the middle of the block on the west side of Kansas avenue between Ritchie and Howell avenues. The house was to be used as a hotel and was already on the trucks when Mayor Maupin learned of the proposed move. He called the board of alder- men together in extraordinary session in the middle of the afternoon and passed an ordinance prohibiting wooden buildings within a certain district in the ordinance defined. The trucks were removed, and the house lowered back to its foundation where it rests today. Though still the local law, the provisions of this ordinance have been fre- quently violated by the unauthorized consent of mayors and town boards and a number of frame structures have been built and moved into the prohibited district, notably the Presbyterian church on Cali- fornia avenue, as well as many others.
With the retirement of Mr. Maupin, W. S. Grubbs, now a stock dealer of Chariton county, succeeded to the office which he held until the election of Mayor Walter Cash. During the period of the town's existence, from 1888 to 1912, five men have held the office of city attorney under the several administrations. They were: C. D. Wat- kins, now judge of one of the city courts of Oklahoma City, Okla .; J. W. McFall, deceased; W. B. Clark, now practicing law in Ponca City, Okla .; B. L. White, and C. M. Kendrick, who still reside in Marceline.
In 1898 Walter Cash was elected mayor and under his administra- tion conditions improved, both in a business sense and in the moral tone of the town. Mr. Cash's administration early began a campaign for civic improvement. Ripley Square, now one of the most beautiful miniature parks on the entire Santa Fe system, was then dotted with unsightly hovels and being located in the very heart of the city, next to the Santa Fe station, presented to strangers passing through the city a most unprepossessing prospect. Bonds in the sum of $5,000 for park purposes were voted in 1902, a part of the property was pur- chased from its owners, much of it was condemned and taken over by the city by legal process and the Santa Fe Railway, through E. P. Ripley, then, as now, its president, generously donated to the city ten lots it owned on the site and on which its grain elevator was located. This elevator was removed without cost to the city, the plot was
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